Piscichuvirus-Associated Severe Meningoencephalomyelitis in Aquatic Turtles, United States, 2009-2021

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 280 - 288
• Main Authors: Laovechprasit, Weerapong, Young, Kelsey T, Stacy, Brian A, Tillis, Steven B, Ossiboff, Robert J, Vann, Jordan A, Subramaniam, Kuttichantran, Agnew, Dalen W, Howerth, Elizabeth W, Zhang, Jian, Whitaker, Shayna, Walker, Alicia, Orgill, Andrew M, Howell, Lyndsey N, Shaver, Donna J, Donnelly, Kyle, Foley, Allen M, Stanton, James B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.02.2024; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Aquatic reptiles; Causes of; Central Nervous System; Central nervous system diseases; Diseases; Distribution; encephalomyelitis; Fresh water; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Herpes viruses; Identification and classification; infectious diseases; meningoencephalomyelitis; metagenomics; Phylogenetics; Piscichuvirus; Piscichuvirus-Associated Severe Meningoencephalomyelitis in Aquatic Turtles, United States, 2009–2021; Proteins; Reptiles & amphibians; Risk factors; RNA; RNA virus infections; RNA viruses; RNA, Messenger; Sea turtles; Turtles; United States - epidemiology; United States; Florida; United States > US; encephalomyelitis; turtles; viruses; United States; metagenomics; infectious diseases; meningoencephalomyelitis; Piscichuvirus; meningitis/encephalitis
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid3002.231142

Viruses from a new species of piscichuvirus were strongly associated with severe lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis in several free-ranging aquatic turtles from 3 coastal US states during 2009-2021. Sequencing identified 2 variants (freshwater turtle neural virus 1 [FTuNV1] and sea turtle neural virus 1 [STuNV1]) of the new piscichuvirus species in 3 turtles of 3 species. In situ hybridization localized viral mRNA to the inflamed region of the central nervous system in all 3 sequenced isolates and in 2 of 3 additional nonsequenced isolates. All 3 sequenced isolates phylogenetically clustered with other vertebrate chuvirids within the genus Piscichuvirus. FTuNV1 and STuNV1 shared ≈92% pairwise amino acid identity of the large protein, which narrowly places them within the same novel species. The in situ association of the piscichuviruses in 5 of 6 turtles (representing 3 genera) with lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis suggests that piscichuviruses are a likely cause of lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis in freshwater and marine turtles.